


All the Emperor's Men (or Perry and Luz Get the Scoop)

by Amity_towards_all



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, Gen, Journalism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-15
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:55:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 15,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27032293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amity_towards_all/pseuds/Amity_towards_all
Summary: After having his live broadcast interrupted by his son, Gus, Perry Porter grapples with the fact that he's become less of a reporter and more of a propagandist for the Emperor. So, he decides to get back to his roots, starting with an interview of the infamous Owl Lady herself.Then, Eda tells him about a mysterious journalist called DaggerQuill who circulates a secret newspaper that challenges the Emperor. Perry decides to work for the newspaper, but to do that, he'll have to impress DaggerQuill by breaking an incredible story, and that turns out to be a lot harder than he suspected, even with the eager assistance of Luz.They start with an investigation of the Blight family.
Relationships: Alador Blight & Perry Porter, Amity Blight & Edric Blight & Emira Blight, Amity Blight/Luz Noceda, Eda Clawthorne & Perry Porter, Edric Blight & Emira Blight, Edric Blight & Emira Blight & Luz Noceda, Gus Porter & Perry Porter, King & Luz Noceda, Lilith Clawthorne & Perry Porter, Luz Noceda & Perry Porter, Luz Noceda & Willow Park, Willow Park & Perry Porter
Comments: 85
Kudos: 169





	1. A Talk with Gus

Perry Porter had just gotten home with his son, Augustus, after a strange experience covering what was supposed to be the first petrification in decades. First, his little boy, along with his best friend Willow, interrupted his live broadcast to stir up some kind of demonstration among the crowd to call off the petrification! Then, some cloaked figure appeared on the stage and freed the prisoners! And finally, the Emperor himself appeared on the stage to tell the crowd that the Titan had told him to spare the Owl Lady!

It was an eventful day, but what concerned him most was what his son had done.

“Augustus, what were you thinking?” Perry said to his little boy once they’d gotten home.

“But Dad, they were going to petrify her! We _had_ to do _something_!”

“Do you have any idea what could’ve happened to you? Or what you may have done to your future? What’s going to happen when you try to find a job someday and they dig up the footage of your rabble-rousing? You think you’ll be able to get a job if everyone thinks you’re a dangerous radical?”

“But it was wrong! What was I supposed to do, just let it happen and do nothing?”

“You can’t stop every bad thing that happens in the world, Augustus.”

Augustus folded his arms and pouted. “I thought you’d be proud of me.”

“I… I’m proud that you wanted to do the right thing. But sometimes you have to look out for yourself.”

“So sometimes you can’t do the right thing?”

Perry took a moment to consider how to answer. “Sometimes you have to do the right thing but in the smart way.”

“And that’s what you did today?”

“Hey, this isn’t about me.”

“Well why not? You were just going to stand by and watch while they petrified Eda! And then you were going to say, what, that it was a triumph for justice?”

“I don’t think I like your tone.”

“Sorry. I don’t have the training of a professional newscaster, always keeping a neutral tone no matter how bad what’s happening is.”

“I think you’d better go to your room, Augustus. We’ll talk about this more tomorrow.”

Gus started walking to his room while shaking his head. “Dad, some of the things you said on air today… I guess I never realized what your job really was.”

Perry wanted to respond, but he decided to just let them both sleep on it. But the rest of the night, he couldn’t stop thinking about his son’s disappointment in him. He used to be a darn good reporter, uncovering injustice, showing the plight of the oppressed. “Reporter” was even in his name!

But ever since he’d been promoted to one of the Bonesborough News Network’s top newscasters, he hadn’t been doing any investigative reporting. But being a newscaster was important too!

Except, what was he really reporting? Usually, it was just what the Emperor’s Coven told them was going on, with no investigation or verification to see whether it was true. That’s what he’d done tonight.

But it wasn’t his job to investigate the Emperor’s Coven’s claims! Except, if it wasn’t his job, and more often than not it wasn’t anyone else’s job either, then what was the result? Just more uncritical parroting of whatever the Emperor’s Coven said.

Perry had been so worried about his son when he’d interrupted his broadcast, but Augustus had only felt the need to do that because the adults in his life had failed him, and he most of all. Maybe a good reporter could’ve investigated the claims made by the Emperor’s Coven and gotten the Owl Lady freed.

Suddenly, Perry had a new level of determination. He was still the same person he was when he’d broken all those great stories in the past, wasn’t he? What was he going to do, just sit down and mope? No, he was going to get up and do something about it! But where to even begin?

Well, this had all started with the Owl Lady’s petrification, so maybe she’d be the best person to talk to. He could get _her_ side of the story. He’d do it first thing in the morning.

Perry went to bed feeling a lot better. Augustus was going to be proud of his old man again, and soon. After all, it hadn’t been _that_ long since he’d been a great reporter. How hard could getting back into it possibly be?


	2. Perry Visits the Owl House

The next morning, Perry headed over to the Owl House, but before he even got close, some kind of tube with an owl’s head attached to it swooped over to him.

“And who might you be?” the thing said.

“My name’s–”

But before he could answer, the tube wrapped him up and deposited him in the Owl House.

“Hey!” Perry said, still wrapped up in the tube.

Then, to his amazement, the Owl Lady came by. Which is to say the Owl _Lady_ came by, not the beast she’d turned into. Already that was a huge story. The Emperor had said that her monstrous form would be a warning about the dangers of wild magic. If Perry were to take that statement literally, then her form now would indicate that wild magic wasn’t so dangerous after all.

“Sorry about Hooty,” she said. “We’ve got to be extra cautious around here now. And who might you be?”

Perry was just a little disappointed that she didn’t recognize him. “I’m Perry Porter.”

Eda stared at him blankly.

“From the Bonesborough News Network.”

That didn’t seem to spark any recognition.

“Don’t you watch the news?”

“Not really. Anyway, what are you doing here?”

“I was hoping I could get an interview.”

“An interview?!”

“Yes, to get your side of the story about what happened last night.”

Eda stroked her chin. “Hmm… I don’t think so, bucko. I don’t want everyone knowing all my secrets. Besides, even if I did give you an interview, your station would never air it.”

“What makes you say that?”

“It wouldn’t exactly be… flattering for the Emperor.”

“Hey, we don’t just air whatever the Emperor wants!”

“Sure, you don’t,” Eda said.

“Wait, didn’t you just say you didn’t watch our network? How would you even know?”

“I used to watch. And I doubt it’s gotten any better since I stopped.”

Perry scowled, but decided not to press the issue and changed the subject. “I don’t understand, I thought you’d been permanently transformed into the Owl Beast.”

Eda eyed him suspiciously. “If I tell you this, can you promise not to air it or print it or whatever?”

“Sure, this can be off the record if you want.”

“Hmm… I still don’t know…”

Then, Luz sleepily wandered into the living room. “Hey, what’s all the commotion?” she asked.

“Nothing to worry about, kid. You’d better go back to sleep. You had a tough day yesterday.”

“Hey, I know you,” Luz said. “You’re Gus’s dad!”

“Gus?” Perry said.

“Yeah, Augustus. I gave him that nickname, Gus.”

Perry thought it was a cute nickname. Better than his own: Perry “The Reporter” Porter.

“So, you must be Luz, the human girl! My son’s told me so much about you.”

“Luz, you know this guy?”

“We’ve never met, but Gus told me all about him. He said he’s an amazing reporter.”

Perry frowned. That certainly hadn’t been his son’s opinion of him last night.

“Well,” Eda said. “Gus seems like a trustworthy kid.” Then she scowled. “His choice of interviewees notwithstanding. All right, Hooty, let him go.”

“Whoa!” Perry said as Hooty unwrapped him and deposited him on the floor.

“So,” Perry said once he’d picked himself up. “Does that mean you’ll grant me an interview?”

“Nope! No way.”

“Wait,” Luz said. “Eda, don’t you think this could be a good idea? If we can get our story out there, that could help us fight back against the Emperor.”

“I don’t know…” Eda said.

“Yes!” Perry said. “Do you want the Emperor to have the only say on what happened last night?”

“Well… hey, it’s a moot point anyway. Your station would never air it.”

“So, if they agree to air it, will you grant me the interview?”

“You know what? Sure, why not. It’ll never happen.”

Perry took on a smug smile and chuckled. “We’ll just see about that!”

* * *

“It’ll never happen,” the station manager said.

“What?”

Perry had been so confident when he’d gone to the station that they’d jump at the chance to interview the Owl Lady. This was one of the most famous people on the Boiling Isles, and she’d just been involved in the biggest news story in as long as he could remember!

Plus, he was one of their top on-air personalities. Surely that had to count for something, didn’t it?

“But why?” Perry asked.

The station manager was a large, gruff, no-nonsense man with a big, white mustache and little antennae named Luke Grick. He and Perry weren’t really friends outside of the office, but they worked well together and respected each other professionally. Or at least Perry used to respect him professionally.

Mr. Grick leaned in and whispered. “Come on, Perry, do I have to spell it out for you? We don’t want to invite that kind of trouble.”

“Trouble?”

“From the Emperor’s Coven.”

Perry gasped. “But the Emperor’s Coven can’t tell us what to report!”

“Not in so many words. But they can make life very difficult for us.”

“But what kind of newsmen would we be if we just did whatever the Emperor’s Coven wanted?”

“The kind that are still employed. And alive. Now, get this silly idea out of your head before you get hurt. Understand?”

Perry was aghast. His station really _was_ afraid to challenge the Emperor. The Owl Lady had been right. His son had been right. And even if he uncovered some great story, he’d never get it aired.

Perry walked sullenly to his desk. He tried to get back to work, but it all seemed so pointless now. What good was he really doing anyone?

But then he bucked up. He’d faced plenty of setbacks in his career, and he’d never given up. Well, OK there was the one time he gave up on an interview, but who could blame him when the interviewee had started trying to drink his blood?

Perry didn’t know exactly what to do next, but he figured heading back to the Owl House just might point him in the right direction.


	3. DaggerQuill

That evening, Perry went back to the Owl House when once again he was swept up by Hooty.

“Hey!” Perry said.

“Hooty!” Eda said once he’d been brought into the house. “This guy’s OK. Don’t you remember him from this morning?”

“Hmm… I can’t quite place him…”

“Just let him go.”

Hooty deposited Perry on the floor once again, and once again Perry picked himself up.

“So,” Eda said. “Am I going to have to spill my secrets?”

Perry sighed. “No. You were right. The station won’t air it. Honestly, I don’t even know why I came back here.”

Eda studied Perry for a moment. “You really want to do some good reporting, don’t you?”

Perry nodded. “Yeah.”

“Hmm… well, I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but there might be a way I could help.”

“Really? How?”

Eda went over to the table and picked up a newspaper. “Take a look at this.”

Perry took it from her. “The Daily Mutineer? I’ve never heard of this paper.”

“Not many have. It’s a secret paper circulated among people the Editor-in-Chief trusts. They go by the pen name DaggerQuill.”

“DaggerQuill,” Perry said in awe. It was another nickname a lot better than Perry “The Reporter” Porter.

“Yeah. Their identity is a secret. Even I don’t know who they are.”

Perry perused the headlines. “'Emperor's Coven Accused of Arresting Wrong Giant Squid', ‘Citizens Displaced by Blight Concert Hall Construction’, ‘Animal Control Fails to Contain Griffin Rampage’, this is incredible! These are the kinds of stories I used to break back when I was getting started.”

Perry read a little more before saying, “This is the kind of place I need to work for. How can I meet DaggerQuill?”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down there! DaggerQuill’s lasted this long by being extremely cautious. They probably wouldn’t even deliver you a paper, let alone meet with you.”

“Can you get in touch with them?”

“They probably wouldn’t like it.”

“Funny, you didn’t strike me as someone that would let something like that stop you.”

Eda raised her eyebrows but then gave him a sly smile. “OK, I’ll see what I can do."

"Thanks!"

"See me back here tomorrow morning.”

* * *

The next morning, Perry once again went to the Owl House, and once again got swept up by Hooty.

“Oh, come on!” he said.

“Hooty!” Eda yelled once he was in the house. “Let him go!”

Perry got himself situated. “So, what’s the verdict?”

Eda sighed. “DaggerQuill said no. But then I asked them, what if you got an incredible story, a story so good that they just had to print it? They said if you did, they’d hire you.”

“Great! Then let’s get to the interview.”

Eda shook her head. “Actually, I asked them about that. They said if they wanted an interview with me, they’d send one of their trusted reporters to get it. You’ll have to do something better than that.”

“Oh,” Perry said with a sigh.

Eda looked at the frown on Perry's face. She could tell how much he wanted this, and she was pretty impressed with his perseverance so far.

“You know, there’s someone in this house who just might be able to steer you in the direction of a big story. Someone who used to be one of the Emperor’s top people.”

Perry smiled and got out his pen and notepad. “Let’s get to it!”


	4. Perry Questions Lilith

Perry entered Lilith’s room, a tiny place that could barely fit a cot. Things were complicated between the Clawthorne sisters. Lilith had turned on the Emperor, healed Eda from her near-petrification, and took on half the curse, transforming Eda back from the Owl Beast. On the other hand, she’d recently revealed that she’d been the one to curse Eda, which had shaped her whole life, kidnapped Luz, and gotten Eda to use up all her magic and transform into the Owl Beast in the first place before capturing her for the Emperor’s Coven. But she’d also only done that because she’d thought it was the only way to heal Eda from the curse, and she’d only cursed Eda in the first place thinking it would only last one day.

Basically, it was a complex situation, and the sisters had agreed that it would be best if Lilith gave Eda some space for a bit to process everything. However, Lilith didn’t have any safe place to stay except for the Owl House, and space there was hard to come by.

Eda wouldn’t hear any talk of Luz sharing her own tiny room, let alone give it up, so Lilith had to make do with the only other spare room, which was little more than a closet.

Perry observed Lilith. She looked tired, and not too happy. Going from a luxurious room and a nice, comfortable bed to a closet and a cot took some getting used to.

Lilith thought of how things could’ve been if only the Emperor had been who she’d thought he was. Eda would’ve been healed and restored to the height of her power, and they could’ve been important members of the Emperor’s Coven together and had whatever luxuries they wanted.

But it had turned out to all be lies. Eda had been right about the Emperor the whole time. And enforcing his laws would’ve made her sister more miserable than losing her magic or even staying as the Owl Beast.

“Unfortunately, I can’t help you,” Lilith said once Perry had explained the situation to her. “I don’t have any useful information.”

“But you were head of the Emperor’s Coven. Surely you must know all of the Emperor’s plans.”

Lilith sighed. “I’ve come to realize that I never had the Emperor’s confidence. I may have officially been the head of the Emperor’s Coven, but I was just a figurehead. I’m not sure the Emperor even cared about making use of my skills as a witch. I was just someone who looked good on a poster and could put on a good show.”

Perry thought about the times he’d seen Lilith in the media, and indeed it was usually for things like demonstrations or parades rather than important missions or the like. He’d even interviewed her once, and all of her answers were just talking points about how great the Emperor and his coven were and how if you worked hard you could be one of them too someday.

“So, you can’t think of anything? Nothing that could even steer me in the right direction?”

Lilith shook her head. “I’m afraid not.”

Perry glumly put away his notepad. “Well, thanks anyway.”

Perry walked out of her room, but then Lilith came to the doorway.

“Wait,” she said.

Perry turned around.

“There _might_ be something. There was one member of the Emperor’s Coven who seemed uneasy with some of the things we were doing. If you got to them, they just might be willing to help you.”

“Who is it?”

“Well… I don’t know their name.”

“What?”

“Hey, there were a lot of people in the Emperor’s Coven. I couldn’t remember _all_ their names.”

“Is there anything else you know about them?”

Lilith considered for a few moments. “Not really.”

Perry thanked her and left the Owl House. Well, it wasn’t much to go on, but in the old days he’d broken some great stories with less.


	5. Luz Noceda, Ace Reporter

As Perry was about to leave the Owl House, Luz walked into the hallway.

“Hey, Mr. Porter, I hear you’re trying to break a big story?”

“Yeah,” he said, “trying” being the operative word.

“That’s so cool! It’s just like this movie!”

Luz pulled out a DVD from the backpack she was carrying.

“Azura Gets the Scoop?” Perry read.

“Yeah! Azura has to team up with a down-on-his-luck reporter to discover the truth about Hecate’s evil scheme.”

Perry wondered, could he be considered down-on-his-luck? Maybe not _quite_ yet.

“Mr. Porter, do you think I could help you break the story?”

“I don’t know, Luz, you’re probably not going to like it. Real reporting takes a lot of tedious work. You’ll probably just think it’s boring.”

“Please, Mr. Porter? Just give me a chance! I know I can help.”

Perry considered it. “Well… OK, if you want, you can give it a try. But if you get bored, feel free to stop.”

“Thanks, Mr. Porter! You won’t regret this.”

Perry pulled out a couple of small mirrors from his pocket. Once he’d embarked on this venture, he’d dug up some of his old equipment.

“Take this,” he said, handing Luz one of the mirrors. “It’s a completely secure two-way communicator. Just press this button on the bottom of the handle and it’ll call me up. If I’m trying to call you, it’ll vibrate.”

“Whoa! Cool!”

Perry smiled. Luz kind of reminded him of himself when he’d first started reporting. He started walking away, but then turned around.

“Hey, Luz, once this is all over… do you think you could maybe tell Augustus about this?”

“Of course!”

“Thanks, Luz. Hey, how’d you like a reporter nickname?”

“Really?”

“Yeah, how about… Ace.”

“Ace! Wow! Yeah, call me Ace!”

Perry chuckled. “OK, Ace, I’ll keep you in the loop. Just don’t try anything without letting me know, OK? I wouldn’t want you to get in over your head.”

Luz laughed. “Don’t worry, Mr. Porter. If you knew me, you’d know I’m not the type to get in over my head.”


	6. The Investigation of the Blights Begins

Perry went back to the station when his mirror communicator started vibrating.

“Luz– I mean, Ace– what’s going on?”

“Just checking to see if it works!”

Perry chuckled. As annoying as the distraction was, he couldn’t help but be a little charmed by Luz’s enthusiasm.

“It works, but don’t use this again unless it’s important. OK, Ace?”

“You bet, Mr. Porter! Hey, do _you_ have a reporter nickname I could use?”

“Uh… yeah… but let’s just stick with Mr. Porter.”

Once he’d hung up, Perry tried to focus on his work instead of the story he was trying to break, but he couldn’t keep his mind off of it. How was he supposed to track down a single, nameless, disgruntled member of the Emperor’s Coven?

Then he heard a loud voice from the office of Mr. Grick, the station manager, and for once that loud voice wasn’t Mr. Grick’s.

“This is an outrage!” the voice said. “Blight Manor has never appeared in the media.”

Oh, it was Alador Blight.

“Please, Mr. Blight,” Mr. Grick said. “It only appeared in the background for a few seconds. No one would even notice it.”

“ _I_ noticed it,” he said. “You’ll be hearing from my lawyers.”

With that, Alador Blight marched out of Mr. Grick’s office and left the newsroom.

Perry watched him leave and wondered, what did he really know about Alador Blight? The Blights were two of the most wealthy, well-connected people in all of Bonesborough. Could there be a story there?

Perry ran into the hallway and caught up to Alador Blight.

“Hello, Mr. Blight. I’m Perry Porter, one of BBN’s top newscasters.”

“Oh, you are, are you?” he said sourly.

“Anyway, I was wondering whether you might be interested in sitting down for an interview sometime.”

“And why in the world would I want to do that?”

“Well, I’ve been thinking about writing a profile of you and your wife. As two of Bonesborough’s most prominent citizens, and with Blight Concert Hall opening soon–”

“I don’t know what kind of people you typically associate with, Porter, but Blight’s do not seek out the press like common folk. We haven’t forgotten the value of discretion and privacy.”

Alador Blight walked off, leaving Perry wondering just what it was the Blight’s were so concerned about keeping private.

During his lunch break, Perry found a spot where he could call up Luz.

“Ace, have you ever heard of the Blight family?”

“Of course. I go to school with their daughter, Amity.”

“Oh. I’m wondering whether Mr. and Mrs. Blight might be hiding something.”

At the mention of Amity’s parents, Luz frowned, and her eyes narrowed. “They’re terrible.”

“You’ve met them?”

“No. But you know Willow, right?”

“Of course, she’s been Augustus’s best friend for a long time.”

“Well, she used to be friends with Amity, but her parents forced her to cut ties with her when they were little because she wasn’t a powerful enough witch.”

“What?!”

“What do you think they’re up to?” asked Luz.

“I don’t know whether they’re even up to anything, to be honest. It’s just a hunch.”

“So, what do we do now? Break into their office and take their documents?”

“What? Luz, a reporter can’t steal documents like that.”

“But… but that’s what Azura does in Azura Gets the Scoop.”

“That may be what happened in the movie, but real reporters have to follow certain rules. We can’t steal documents. What we _can_ do is cultivate a source within the Blight organization who will hopefully give us some information.”

“Do you know anyone within the Blight organization?”

Perry sighed. “No. I told you, reporting can be slow and laborious. It’s OK if you want to stop.”

“No!” Luz said. “I want to do it.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah!”

Perry smiled. “OK, Ace. I’ll let you know what our next move will be.”

After they’d hung up on each other, Perry thought about what a good kid Luz was. No wonder his son liked her so much.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Owl House, Luz thought about what Mr. Porter had said about cultivating a source within the Blight organization. What if she could cultivate a source not within the Blight _organization_ , but within the Blight _family_?

Luz grinned. Mr. Porter was going to be so impressed when she showed him that she’d gotten the story all by herself! Luz ran downstairs to find Eda in the living room.

“Eda, could I go visit a friend tonight?”

“I don’t know, Luz, with the Emperor after us…”

“Please? I’ll be careful. I’ll wear my cape. I won’t tell anyone else.”

“Well… OK, as long as you're careful and discrete.”

“Thanks, Eda!” Luz said.

Luz went up to her room to grab her cape when she saw King there snuggling in it.

“Sorry, King, but I’m going to need that.”

“Where are you off to, Luz?”

“When I’m on the job, call me ‘Ace’!”

“‘Ace’? ‘On the job’? What job?”

“I’m helping Mr. Porter break a big story!”

“Mr. Porter? You mean that nervous guy that’s been here all these times the past couple days?”

“Hey, you’d be nervous too if Hooty was always wrapping you up in himself.”

“Hmm... good point. You know, you seem really excited about this.”

“Yeah. I guess after everything that happened with Eda getting captured and then facing the Emperor… and… not knowing how I’ll get back to my mom…” Luz sighed. “I guess it’s just nice to be able to focus on something else for a little while.”

King went over and hugged Luz’s leg. “Hey, good luck out there, Ace.”

“Thanks, King.”

Luz gave King one more pat on the head before eagerly rushing out of the house. She just hoped that Amity would be willing to see her that night.


	7. Luz Talks to Amity

Luz arrived at Blight Manor unannounced, which she hoped wouldn’t be a problem, and rang the doorbell. Amity answered, and as soon as she saw Luz, she dropped her crutches and grabbed her in a hug.

That took Luz by surprise. She’d never seen Amity be so demonstrative in her affection towards anyone.

“Luz! I was so worried! Are you OK?”

“I’m fine, Amity,” Luz said as Amity let go. Luz picked up her crutches for her.

“I saw everything that happened on the news. I was so scared! I wanted to come to the Owl House, but I didn’t know whether you all needed some time alone or something.”

Luz was taken aback. She hadn’t realized that Amity cared so much. “I’m sorry, Amity. I should’ve let you know that I was safe. But there was just so much going on…”

“Don’t worry about that, Luz. I’m just glad you’re OK! If anything happened to you…” Amity trailed off.

Luz leaned in and whispered, “Hey, Amity, where’s the rest of your family?”

“My mom and dad are out working late, and Ed and Em snuck out to visit the night market.”

Luz grinned. This was perfect!

“Amity, do you know what your parents are working on?”

“Huh? Why?”

“Just curious.”

“Well, they don’t really talk much about what they do specifically. But they just donated a lot of money for a concert hall, and I know they’re spending a lot of time preparing for the grand opening tomorrow.”

“Do you know anything else about the concert hall?”

“Not really. I’ve never even visited the site. But they _have_ talked about the big surprise that’s going to happen on opening night.”

Big surprise? That sounded promising.

“Hey, Amity, do your parents have an office in this house?”

Amity’s brow furrowed. “Well… yeah. Why?”

Luz gave her a conspiratorial look. “I need you to sneak into your parents’ office and see if they have any documents about what’s going on at the concert hall, or anything else nefarious they might be up to.”

“What? Luz, I can’t do that!”

“Please, Amity? It’s really important.”

“Wait… is that why you came here tonight?”

“Yeah.”

Amity frowned and looked away. “Oh… I… I thought you came to tell me you were OK.”

That made Luz feel guilty.

“Well… I came to do that too,” Luz said.

“Luz,” Amity said. “If I go into my parents’ office… I don’t know what would happen to me.”

“Only if you get caught, and you won’t!”

“But…”

Luz grabbed Amity’s hands. “Please, Amity? It would mean so much to me.”

Amity looked into Luz’s eyes as her heart started to flutter. Just a couple days ago, Luz had been willing to face the Emperor himself for someone she cared about. And here she was, too afraid to even sneak into her parents’ office to look at some papers.

“OK, Luz… I’ll do it. For you.”

Amity slowly started walking up to her parents’ office. But Luz noticed that she seemed to be shivering a little.

“Hey, Amity, it’ll be OK! You won’t get caught.”

“I know,” Amity said, but her voice was quivering.

Luz watched as Amity made her way to the staircase and she started feeling guilty again. She’d been so excited about the whole reporter thing that she hadn’t thought about Amity’s feelings at all.

“Wait,” Luz said. “Amity… you _really_ don’t want to do this, do you?”

Amity turned her head. “I can do this, Luz. If it’s that important to you… I can do this.”

But Luz could see the fear in her eyes.

“Thanks, Amity, but I can’t ask you to do something that makes you this uncomfortable.”

“But you said it was really important.”

“Yeah, but I’ll find another way.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

Amity walked towards Luz. “I’m sorry, Luz. It’s just, when it comes to my parents…”

“Hey, you don’t have to explain.” Luz sighed. “I’m sorry, Amity. Forget I ever asked you to do this. We’ll talk later, OK? But for now, I’d better get back to the Owl House.”

"OK. Just be careful, Luz. I don't want anything to happen to you. You'll promise me?"

Luz smiled. "Yeah, I promise."


	8. Luz Recruits Ed and Em

Luz got back to the Owl House and glumly plopped herself down on the couch.

“Hey, Ace, why the long face?” King asked. “Hey, that rhymes!”

Luz sighed. “Don’t call me ‘Ace’ anymore, King. I don’t deserve that nickname. I had my chance to break a big story tonight, but I just couldn’t go through with it. I guess I don’t have what it takes to be a real reporter.”

“What happened?”

“I tried to get Amity to sneak into her parents’ office. And she agreed. But she was just so scared… I couldn’t let her do it. I told her to stop.”

King snuggled up to Luz. “Hey, you really think Azura would’ve made one of her friends do something that made them that scared to get the scoop?”

Luz smiled. “I guess she wouldn’t, would she?”

“No! Besides, this is just the beginning. There’s more than one way to get a story.”

“You know what? You’re right! Thanks, King.”

“Anything for you, Ace.”

Luz started rubbing King’s belly, which made him giggle.

Now that Luz was cheered up, she thought about how to get the story. Amity was scared to go into her parents’ office, but there were two other Blights she had a feeling would happily do it.

“King, what do you know about the night market?”

“The night market? Luz, you’re not thinking of going there, are you? Even _Eda’s_ uneasy about visiting the night market."

“I’ve got to go there. Will you come with me? I need you to watch my back.”

“I don’t know…”

“Please, King? How about this: if you do this for me, then once our story gets published, I’ll paint a mural of you demolishing all your enemies.”

“Really? A big one?”

“As big as you want!”

“OK! Let’s get going!”

* * *

Ed and Em made their way through the night market uneasily. They’d been eager to see what it was like, but it turned out to be a lot more intense than they’d anticipated.

“This is a lot of fun,” Ed said as a particularly angry and gruesome looking demon carrying a big axe passed by. “But, if _you_ wanted to do something else, we could leave.”

“No, no,” Em said. “Although, if _you_ wanted to do something else…”

Then, the twins spotted Luz, who was looking pretty uneasy herself while cradling a sleeping King in her arms. He wasn’t exactly doing a good job of watching her back. Ed and Em ran over to her.

“Luz, is that you?” Ed asked.

“Yeah,” Luz said. “I came here looking for you. Amity told me you’d be here.”

“Are you OK?” Em asked. “Mittens told us all about Eda almost getting petrified.”

“Yeah, we’re all safe,” Luz said.

“Why were you looking for us?” Ed asked.

“It’s a long story,” Luz said.

“You know Luz, it’s, uh, kind of noisy here, isn’t it?” Em said. “If you’ve got a long story, we’d better head somewhere quieter.”

“Are you sure you don’t mind leaving?” Luz asked.

“No, no!” Ed said. “If you’ve got something important to tell us, then let’s get going.”

And the three of them rushed out.

* * *

Luz explained the situation to the twins as they headed over to Blight Manor.

“So basically, you need us to look around for any incriminating papers in our parents’ office?” Ed asked.

“Yeah, if that’s OK with you.”

Ed and Em grinned at each other. After chickening out at the night market, they were eager to prove to themselves and each other that they were still the devil-may-care pair they saw themselves as. They’d never snuck into their parents’ office before, but only because they figured there wouldn’t be anything interesting in there.

“We’ll do it!” they said in unison.

Once the three of them got to Blight Manor, Ed took Luz’s cape and hung it in a small closet in the foyer where they hung coats.

“Why don’t you and Mittens hang out in the living room while the two of us take care of business?” Ed said.

“Mittens!” Em called out. There was no answer. That was odd. Usually Amity could hear them from her room when they called from the living room, even with the door closed.

The twins headed upstairs and knocked on Amity’s door. Once again, there was no answer. Then they heard some rustling coming from their parents’ office.

“No way!” they said to each other.

The two of them opened the door to find Amity shuffling through their parents’ papers. She gasped and took on a look of abject terror, but then breathed a sigh of relief.

“Oh, it’s just you two. I thought it was Mom and Dad.”

The twins were flabbergasted.

“What are you doing?” Ed asked.

“Well… Luz told me she needed these papers.”

Wow. They’d seen the look of horror that had crossed Amity’s face in the split second she’d thought that their parents had caught her. They knew how tough breaking into the office must’ve been for her.

“You _really_ like Luz, don’t you?” Em said.

Amity blushed. “She’s a really good friend. But what are you two doing here?”

“Luz told us about the whole thing,” Ed said. “She asked _us_ to get the papers.”

“Oh.” Amity sighed. “I guess she figured you wouldn’t chicken out like I did when she asked me.”

“Did you find anything?” Ed asked.

Amity shook her head with her eyes downturned.

Ed and Em exchanged glances and then nodded to each other.

“Mittens,” Em said. “Head back to your room. We’ll find the papers and give them to you. You can tell Luz you found them.”

“Wait, really?”

“Yeah,” Ed said.

Amity smiled. “That’s really nice of you. But… I’d be lying to her.”

“Hey, you broke into the office for her,” Ed said. “That’s what counts. Who cares who actually found the papers?”

“Wow… I… I don’t know what to say.”

“Don’t say anything,” Em said. “Just get to your room.”

And if Em had said that just a minute earlier, Amity might’ve been able to get out of the office before their parents started opening the door to it.


	9. The Blights' Plan

While Ed and Em were discovering their little sister in their parents’ office, Luz was waiting downstairs when she heard the front door opening.

 _Oh no!_ Luz thought. Her first instinct was to run upstairs and warn Ed and Em, but she knew there was no way she could get up the staircase without being seen. The best she could do was grab King and sneak into the little closet in the foyer where they’d hung her cape. From within the closet, she could faintly hear the Blights talking.

“People are going to be blown away by the big surprise tomorrow!” Mr. Blight said.

Luz perked up. This was her lucky break!

“Yes!” Mrs. Blight said. “To think we coaxed Ricardo Cocoon out of retirement.”

Ricardo Cocoon? Who was that?

“It’ll be spectacular!” Mr. Blight said. “Who else can play a whole string trio on his own?”

“I suppose having six arms helps.”

Luz shook her head. That was the big surprise? So, this had all been for nothing.

“I just hope those protestors don’t cause too much of a ruckus,” Mrs. Blight continued. “I mean, who cares about a few people losing their homes to make way for the Concert Hall? You’d think being poor they’d have gotten used to that sort of thing by now.”

“We don’t have to worry about that, darling,” Mr. Blight said. “I’ve made arrangements to deal with those protestors.”

“Oh? Do tell.”

“I’ve had someone put a tiny carnivorous plant where the protestors meet. Once they start their nonsense, he'll make it grow and attack the protestors. Those ruffians will scatter immediately, except for the one or two that might get eaten, of course.” Mr. Blight started laughing.

Luz couldn’t believe her luck being in that closet right at that moment. This wasn’t just an amazing story; it was her chance to stop the Blights from doing something absolutely terrible!

“Capital idea!” Mrs. Blight said. “But won’t having a dangerous plant right by the concert hall on the day of the grand opening scare away our guests?”

“Not at all. The protests will start early, when we’re still setting things up. The whole thing will be over long before any guests show up.”

“Wonderful!”

Mr. and Mrs. Blight started laughing as Luz clenched her fists.

“By the way,” Mr. Blight said. “Did I tell you some ridiculous reporter came up to me today and actually asked whether I’d be interested in a profile?”

“Oh, how gauche! Anyway, we’d better get up to the office and find those contracts before it gets too late.”

Uh oh. Luz wasn’t sure what she could possibly do to warn the twins. Maybe she should’ve just stayed in the living room and told them she was a friend of Amity’s, but now it was too late. How could she possibly explain to Mr. and Mrs. Blight why she was hiding in the closet? And what would they do to her if they thought she’d overheard what they’d just said? She just hoped the twins would be OK.

* * *

As soon as the door to the office started opening, Amity froze in terror. But luckily Ed and Em were more accustomed to situations like this and kept their cool. As soon as they heard the creaking of the door, they drew a circle together to make their little sister invisible. And years of getting in and out of trouble had also made them quick enough that they did it before the door even fully opened.

“Edric, Emira, what in the world are you two doing here?” their mom said.

Years of troublemaking had made them quick at coming up with excuses too.

“Sorry,” Em said. “It’s just we’ve been expecting an important letter for a while, and today it occurred to us that you two might have taken it up to your office by accident. We thought it might be somewhere in your papers.”

“This is completely unacceptable!” their dad said. “There’s some very sensitive material here. And look at the mess you two have made!”

Their mom glared at them. “What’s this letter that was so important that you just had to look through our papers without our permission?”

“Remember when we went to the Knee to help Amity train for the Hexside Entrance Exam?” Ed asked.

“Yes,” their dad answered.

“Well,” Ed said. “I got bitten by a bat there. Through no fault of my own! I wasn’t playing with one or anything.”

“We had to take him to the hospital,” Em said.

Their parents gasped.

“Are you all right?” their dad asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Ed said.

“We just didn’t want to worry you,” Em said.

Even though they were on the same side this time, Amity rolled her invisible eyes. So, this was how the two of them always got away with things.

“But what was the letter?” their mom asked.

“The hospital bill,” Em said. “We were going to pay for it ourselves.”

“Oh, you poor dears,” their dad said. “You don’t need to hide things from us. And we’d happily pay for any hospital bills.”

“We just didn’t want to cause you any trouble,” Ed said.

“You’re such considerate children,” their mom said. Then, she looked around, puzzled. “Did you hear something?”

They had. It was Amity scoffing, despite her best efforts to contain herself.

“Just a little cough,” Em said, before pretending to cough into her sleeve a couple times. “My throat’s a little dry.”

“Well, you two had better get to bed,” their dad said. “Just don’t do this again.”

“Yes, Dad,” the twins said in turn before leaving the office, lingering at the door to give Amity a chance to get out first.

“Mittens,” Ed whispered once the door to the office had closed. “Are you here?”

Amity nodded, then realized she'd forgotten for a moment that they couldn’t see her. She tapped them on the shoulder.

Ed and Em drew another circle to make Amity visible again. Quietly, they snuck downstairs. Based on how their parents had reacted, it didn’t seem like they’d seen Luz, thankfully.

“Luz?” Ed whispered.

Luz quietly opened the closet door. Em motioned for her to follow them and they made their way to the kitchen, where they could talk without their parents being able to hear from upstairs.

“Sorry, guys,” Luz said. “I wanted to warn you, but I couldn’t figure out how.”

“Don’t worry,” Em said. “We didn’t get in any trouble.”

“Oh good.”

“The bad news is we didn’t find any incriminating papers,” Ed said.

“We didn’t really get a chance to look,” Em said. Then she grinned. “Except for Mittens, that is.”

“We found her in there,” Ed said with a grin of his own.

“Mittens, I mean, Amity, you went into your parents’ office?” asked Luz.

Amity smiled bashfully. “Well, yeah, I did.”

“Gee, thanks Amity! You really didn’t need to do that for me.”

“I wanted to,” Amity said. “I’m just sorry we didn’t find anything.”

“That’s OK!” Luz said. “I’m just glad you didn’t get in any trouble. I got what I needed anyway.”

“Really?” Ed and Em both said.

“Yeah! Anyway, it’s getting late. I’d better go.”

“We’ll show you the back door,” Amity said.

Right as she was about to leave, Luz turned to Amity one more time. “Thanks again, Amity. I know how hard that must’ve been for you.”

“Any time, Luz. I want you to think of me as someone you can count on.”

“I do!”

Once they’d let Luz out, the Blight siblings finally let themselves relax.

“Thanks guys,” Amity said. “I’m lucky you two got home before Mom and Dad did. You know… you guys apologized a lot after what happened at the library, but I never said I was sorry for all those times I tried to get you in trouble for cutting class. After that, I wouldn’t be able to blame you for letting Mom and Dad catch me.”

“We could never do that!” Em said.

“Yeah!” Ed said. “Besides, some of the times you told on us… they weren’t just harmless pranks.”

The Blight siblings shared a few silent moments of geniality together before Amity went up to her room.

Then, something occurred to Ed. “So… all three of us were just willing to sell out Mom and Dad, no questions asked?”

“Huh…” Em considered that. “Yeah… I guess we were…”

“Huh…”


	10. Luz Pitches Perry the Story

Once Luz was safely out of the Blight estate, King woke up.

“Whoops. Must’ve dozed off there for a second. So, how far are we from the night market?”

Luz rolled her eyes. Then, she got out her mirror.

“Ace?” Perry said. “This is pretty late for you, isn’t it?”

“Mr. Porter, I got a big story!”

“What? How?”

“I overheard Mr. and Mrs. Blight. They’re going to sabotage the protests outside of Blight Concert Hall!”

“Really? How’d you find that out?”

“Uh… I was visiting my friend Amity and overheard them.” Hey, that was _mostly_ what happened.

Then, Luz frowned. “I guess I just got lucky, huh.”

“Not at all! A big part of being a good reporter is just keeping your eyes and ears open at all times, because you never know when a story might show up. And that’s what you did today.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

Luz beamed and then gave Perry the details about the carnivorous plant. Once she'd finished, Perry's brow furrowed.

“Luz…”

“You mean ‘Ace,’ right?”

“Right. Ace… do you have any evidence? Any proof”

“Well… no…”

“OK. And… are you sure you heard all that right?”

Luz gasped. “You don’t believe me!”

“It’s not that I don’t believe you, Luz. It’s just… this is a pretty big accusation. And it seems kind of outlandish. And sometimes when we really want to break a story… we might trick ourselves into seeing things that aren’t really there.”

“But I heard them!”

“OK. If you think they said that, then I’ll look into it. Hey, you did a good job, Ace!”

“Yeah…” Luz said with a frown. Then she hung up.

Luz put away her mirror and sighed.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” King asked.

“I thought Mr. Porter really believed in me. But all that stuff about being a reporter, giving me the nickname, he was just patronizing me. He thinks I’m just some dumb kid who can’t be trusted.”

“But that’s not what he said.”

“Not in so many words. But that’s what he meant.” Then, Luz gritted her teeth. “Well, I’ve got to stop Mr. and Mrs. Blight. And if Mr. Porter doesn’t believe me, I guess I’ll have to do it on my own.”

* * *

While Luz had been heading over to visit Amity, Perry had been finishing up his broadcast and getting ready to go home when he was approached by a large lizard.

“Mr. Porter,” he said. “My name’s Piniet. I’m a publisher. I was hoping I could talk to you about an opportunity to publish a memoir.”

“A memoir? I don’t know, my life’s not all that interesting.”

“A good writer can make it interesting.”

“OK, but I don’t think I have time to write a memoir between my job and my son.” _And hopefully writing for DaggerQuill_ , he thought.

“Oh, you wouldn’t be writing it,” Piniet said. “You’d have a ghost writer.”

Piniet snapped his fingers and a ghost came up from the floor.

“My name’s Kasparov. I’m looking forward to working with you, Mr. Porter!” they said.

“Well, I still don’t know…”

Then, Mr. Grick walked over. “You’ve got to do this, Perry! It’s great publicity for the station.”

“But–”

“No buts.”

Perry sighed. “OK.”

As Perry headed home with Kasparov, he wondered how he could possibly conduct his investigation with a ghost always following him around. He got home to find Gus sitting on the couch. They’d talked the night before and had smoothed things over, although Perry was still worried that Gus would put himself at risk again if the situation arose. Maybe if his son came to respect him as a reporter again, he’d be more willing to listen to him.

“Hi, Augustus,” Perry said. “This is Kasparov. He’s going to be ghostwriting my memoir.”

“Wow, Dad, you’re writing a memoir?”

“Yeah. Well… _I’m_ not writing it, exactly.”

Perry took Kasparov upstairs to his study and started telling him about his early days reporting for a few hours, each story reminding him of how different things were for him now. Then, he felt the mirror communicator vibrating.

“Uh… I’ve got to take care of a few things,” Perry said. “Maybe we should call it a night.”

Kasparov promptly floated out through the wall and Perry picked the mirror to talk to Luz. As he listened to what she had to say, Perry wasn’t sure what to think. Could the Blight’s really be planning something that nefarious? And was he really going to trust the word of a kid on something this big?

But this wasn’t just any kid. Perry thought about all the stories Gus had told him about Luz. As far as he was concerned, if his son trusted her, then he trusted her. Or at least he trusted her enough to investigate what she’d told him. First thing in the morning, he was going to head to the concert hall and find out what was going on.


	11. Perry Starts to Investigate

The next morning, Perry woke up early, well before dawn, to head to the concert hall before work. But when he checked his scroll, he found a message from Mr. Grick sent late the last night giving him the morning off. That suited his purposes perfectly except that the reason was to give him some time with Kasparov, who was already waiting for him downstairs.

“Well, you’re up early,” Kasparov said. “Ready to get started, Mr. Porter?”

“Kasparov, how long have you been here?”

“I got here hours ago. Ghosts don’t need to sleep, you know. I thought I’d get here early so we could get started as soon as you woke up.”

“Yeah, but… this is my house…”

“When I’m working with someone, I consider their house my house!”

Perry didn’t like the sound of that. And to think that just the week before he’d thrown away that coupon for enchanting the walls to be impervious to ghosts.

“Well, let’s get to it!” Kasparov said.

“Uh… sure… let me just check up on my son for a second.”

Perry went over to Gus, who was still asleep, and shook him awake. “Augustus?”

“Huh?”

“Sorry to wake you up. I need to ask you a favor.”

A minute later, an illusion of Perry went over to Kasparov while the real deal was sneaking out. Poor Gus was so sleepy he hadn’t even asked about his dad’s strange request.

Then, it occurred to Perry that he was leaving his son alone in the house with a strange ghost. So, he snuck back in and carried out a still sleeping Gus. But what was he going to do with his son? Well, it was a bit rude on such short notice, but he figured the Owl House was a good place to deposit him. And since he didn’t have to go to work that morning, he had time to head over there and still investigate the concert hall.

Once he approached the Owl House, Hooty once again came over to him.

Perry sighed. “Well, let’s just get this over with.”

Once again, he was wrapped up and brought into the Owl House, but this time Lilith was there to greet him instead of Eda.

“Mr. Porter?” she said.

“Yeah, it’s me. Could you ask this thing to let me go?”

She did, and Perry picked himself up as Lilith gave Hooty a sour look.

“Sorry about that,” Lilith said. “I know the feeling.”

“Eda’s not awake?”

“Not this early.” She looked at Gus. “Your son slept through all that?”

“Yeah, he can be a deep sleeper.”

Lilith was happy about that. After all, she recognized Gus as one of Luz’s friends that she’d attacked in the Emperor’s Castle.

“I know this is short notice,” Perry continued. “But I was hoping I could let him stay here for a few hours.”

“Well, it’s not my house, but I doubt Edalyn would disapprove.”

Perry laid Gus down on the couch.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t be more help with your story,” Lilith said as he was making his way out.

“That’s all right. I may have found a new story anyway.” Then, a thought occurred to him. “Miss Lilith, as the head of the Emperor’s Coven, you have access to all types of magic, right?”

“Yes.”

“Including plant magic?”

“Yes.”

“Are you doing anything today?”

“No. Recent events have quite cleared out my schedule.”

“And is it safe for you to leave the house?”

Lilith considered. “Perhaps for a short while… depending on where we’re going… and if I disguise myself…”

“Great! Do you think you could help me with an investigation?”

Lilith considered. “Where we would be going?”

“Blight Concert Hall.”

“Blight Concert Hall!” she repeated wide-eyed. Lilith was getting pretty tired of her new surroundings. She was eager to leave the Owl House, and she’d heard how magnificent the new concert hall was going to be. A taste of her old lifestyle, even a small one, sounded like just the thing she needed. “Well… I suppose it’s in a safe enough location.”

“Great! Thank you so much! I’ll explain on the way.”

* * *

The sun was rising as Perry and Lilith made their way to Blight Concert Hall. Perry had considered getting Luz to come with them, but he figured she’d already done more than her fair share and he should let her sleep.

Lilith rummaged through Eda’s closet to make a disguise and was soon wearing a bald-cap, false mustache, big glasses, and a checkered suit. And she wasn’t happy about it.

“To think Edalyn had to live like this for so long,” she said as the two of them made their way to the concert hall.

“Isn’t that because you were hunting her?”

“Well… I had my reasons.”

“And what reasons were those?”

Lilith looked at him. “Off the record?”

Perry chuckled. Lilith was used to dealing with the press. She knew the lingo. And to be on her guard.

“Off the record,” he confirmed.

“It’s complicated. But to sum it up, I thought life would be better for Edalyn if she’d join the Emperor’s Coven instead of living as an outlaw. But Edalyn always followed her own path. And stuck to her own principles. I used to think she was just stubborn and looked down on the way she lived, but it took a lot more courage to live that way than the way I did. Even with all of society against her, she did what she thought was right. I never had it in me to live like that.”

The way Lilith described her sister made Perry think of what his son had done the night of the petrification. He and Willow had stirred up the whole crowd against it. Had he done anything as worthwhile in his entire time broadcasting for BBN?

“Yeah, I know what you mean. It’s hard not to conform to the system.” Perry sighed. “Sometimes you do it without even realizing it.”

Lilith smiled at him. “Well, neither of us are doing that right at the moment, are we?”

Perry smiled back. “I guess not.”


	12. Luz Talks to Gus

Luz got up early the next morning, though not nearly as early as Perry had, to find a sleeping Gus on the couch

“Huh?” she said to herself.

She saw that there was a note next to him and read it aloud.

“Augustus. Sorry, I had to leave the house early, and there was a strange… ghost?… in the house, so I brought you here. Make my illusion leave the house around noon? Please thank the Owl Lady for me. Dad.”

Luz didn’t know what to make of that. She’d been planning on contacting Willow, the best person to deal with a plant problem, before heading over to Blight Concert Hall. But now that Gus was here, she figured she should talk to him, even if it meant waking him up. After rescuing Eda, she’d spoken to Gus and Willow on the crystal ball to let them know that they were all OK, but they hadn’t had a chance to see each other in person.

“Gus,” she said, shaking him awake.

“Huh? Luz? Luz!”

Gus and Luz hugged each other.

“Wait, how’d I get here?”

Luz showed Gus the note.

“It’s good to see you, Gus. I’m sorry I got you into such a mess with the Healing Hat, fighting Lilith…”

“Hey, I was happy to do it for you and Eda. I just wish it hadn’t turned out the way it did.”

“I saw what you and Willow did on the news. You two are the best friends a girl could ask for.”

At the mention of the broadcast, Gus frowned.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Luz asked.

Gus sighed. “Nothing. It’s just… my dad got mad at me for doing that. I always thought he was some great reporter. But when I tried to do something good, he just scolded me and told me to never do it again.”

“He was mad that you interfered with his broadcast?”

“Well… no… he didn’t seem to care about that, now that I think of it. He was worried I’d get in trouble. Or that it would affect my future.”

Luz was still disappointed in Perry, thinking that he hadn’t believed her the night before. She was tempted to just let Gus continue to think that way about his dad, at least for the time being. Honestly, a part of her even wanted to encourage that type of thinking.

But as much as he’d disappointed her, Luz couldn’t do that.

“Hey,” Luz said. “When my mom wanted to send me to that Camp Reality Check place, I was really hurt. And angry." Luz paused for a moment. Talking about her mom now that the portal was gone was difficult. "But I know she was doing what she thought was best for me because she cares about me. And your dad cares about you. Isn’t that a good thing?”

“Well… yeah… but all this time I thought he was this great, fearless reporter. But the way he sounded that night, it’s like he’s afraid to report anything that would make the Emperor upset.”

Luz smiled. “You know, Gus, there might be more to your dad than you think.”

“What do you mean?”

Luz figured it would be better if she waited for Gus’s dad to surprise him with some great piece of reporting to really impress him rather than tell him about everything he’d been doing the past couple days.

“Uh… nothing. Anyway, I’ve got to get going.”


	13. At Blight Concert Hall

Luz left a message for Willow on the crystal ball asking her to meet her at Blight Concert Hall. She figured she’d get there first and do whatever investigating she could while she waited for Willow to wake up.

But once she got to the concert hall, she was surprised to see Perry already there.

“Mr. Porter?” she said.

“Luz? What are you doing here?”

“What are _you_ doing here?”

“What do you mean? I came here to investigate what you told me last night. Didn’t I tell you I’d look into it?”

“Yeah, but… I thought you were just saying that. I thought you didn’t believe me.”

Perry smiled. “Hey, I’d be a fool not to look into something you told me, Ace.”

Luz was overwhelmed. Before Eda, none of the adults in her life had ever taken her seriously. They’d always treated her like she was just some weirdo. It’s why she’d been so quick to assume that Mr. Porter didn’t believe her about the Blights either. But he _had_ believed her the whole time!

Then, she noticed Lilith. “Sorry, I didn’t introduce myself. I’m Luz.”

Perry laughed. “Oh, Luz, this is–”

But before he could finish, Lilith poked his shoulder to get his attention and shook her head. Things were still uneasy between the two of them.

“Uh, this is an old source of mine, Mr. Hildy. He’s going to help us out.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Lilith said in the deepest, most gravelly voice she could manage.

Then, a carriage arrived, and out stepped a man with six arms and blue wings like a morpho butterfly.

“Oh, my goodness,” Lilith said. “That’s Ricardo Cocoon!”

She ran over without giving her companions a second thought.

“What happened to her voice?” Luz asked. Starstruck, Lilith had forgotten about her subterfuge and reverted to her normal voice.

“Uh… that’s just how he sounds when he’s excited,” Perry said.

Perry had interviewed Cocoon for his retirement announcement, so he was surprised to see him.

“Mr. Cocoon!” Lilith said. “I’m a great admirer! I was at your legendary Wailing star concert three years ago!”

“I always enjoy meeting my fans,” he said. “But that Wailing star concert was in the Emperor’s castle. Only the Emperor and a select few were there.”

“Oh… um… I meant to say four years ago.”

“Ah. Well, I didn’t think anyone would be here so early. I’m supposed to be the big surprise tonight. But I always come early when I play somewhere for the first time to get a feel for the acoustics. Can I count on you to keep me a secret?”

“Of course!”

Ricardo Cocoon entered the concert hall, and Lilith rejoined the other two just as Willow arrived.

“Luz!” she called out, and the two of them hugged.

“It’s so good to see you!” Willow said.

“You too!” Luz replied.

Then, Willow noticed the other two. “Mr. Porter?”

“Hi Willow.”

“What are _you_ doing here?”

“Mr. Porter and I are working on a big scoop!” Luz said. “Call me ‘Ace’! And this is his friend, Mr. Hildy.”

Willow introduced herself, and Lilith, recognizing the other child she’d attacked in the Emperor’s Castle, was once again glad she was in disguise.

“I’m sorry about interrupting your broadcast, Mr. Porter,” Willow said.

“Oh, I’m not upset about that,” he said.

“Gus told me you were.”

“It’s not that I was upset,” Perry said. “I just want you two kids to be safe.”

Luz got Willow caught up on the whole situation.

“So, do you think you can find the carnivorous plant that’s hidden here?”

“I’ll give it a try.”

Perry handed Luz a camera.

“Here, Ace. Snap as many photos as you can.”

At that moment, a number of Bonesborough citizens approached the spot carrying signs.

“Looks like the protests are starting,” Lilith said.

“Hey, I found it!” Willow said.

Willow pointed to a tiny plant that no one could possibly notice unless they were looking for it.

“Aww, it’s cute!” Luz said, snapping a photo.

Then, as the protestors approached, the plant suddenly grew to be huge, towering over everyone there, with its jaws, if plants can be said to have jaws, snapping open and shut. The protestors scattered.

“Oh no, we’re too late!” Perry said.

“Willow,” Luz said as she snapped some more photos. “Can you shrink it back down?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “But I can try _this_.”

Willow started tickling the plant under one of its leaves, and soon the plant stopped snapping and tenderly wrapped part of its stem around Willow.

“Aww, it’s OK little guy,” Willow said.

The protestors, seeing the plant calmed down, approached it and started tickling it under its other leaves like Willow had.

“Hey, it’s kind of cute,” one of them said.

“I can feel the magic,” Willow said. “Someone’s trying to make it agitated.”

Perry looked around for any suspicious characters. “Hey! Look at that window!”

Luz snapped a picture of one of the windows of Blight Concert Hall, where they saw the face of Ricardo Cocoon watching the scene, which would only be natural given the commotion except that he was gritting his teeth as if he were struggling with something. Something like a magic spell.

“It _couldn’t_ be,” Lilith said.

But Luz and Perry were already rushing into the concert hall. As soon as they opened the door, they saw Ricardo Cocoon struggling with a magic circle.

“Mr. Cocoon?” Perry said as Luz snapped some photos. “You’re doing this?”

“I had to!” he cried out. “These protestors were going to disrupt my triumphant return to the stage after so long!”

By that point, Lilith had joined them and asked, “Didn’t you ‘retire’ just three months ago?”

“Well… it felt like longer. Listen, I know you probably want to call the authorities.”

At the mention of authorities, Luz and Lilith both took a step back and glanced towards the door.

“But how about this?” He pointed to Perry. “You’re a reporter, right? I remember doing an interview with you. If you let me do the concert, I’ll let you quote me on the record that Alador Blight put me up to this.”

Perry considered. “And you won’t cause any trouble to the protestors?”

“I promise! All I’ll do is rehearse.”

Then, Perry glanced at Lilith, who was gazing wondrously at the lavish architecture and decorations of the hall.

“You know,” Perry said. “It might be a good idea to have one of us stay here to keep an eye on this character.”

Lilith’s eyes widened, and she looked at Perry as her face broke into a big grin.


	14. Writing the Story

Luz and Perry went back outside and approached Willow and the protestors.

“You were amazing, Willow!” Luz said as she hugged her again.

“Yeah,” Perry said. “You really saved the day!”

Willow chuckled and blushed. “Oh, it was nothing,” she said as the protestors started cheering for her.

Perry and Luz walked a few feet away so they could speak privately

“Great job, Mr. Porter!” Luz said.

“No, Ace,” Perry said. “ _You_ did a great job! In fact, this is really your story. I can help you write it up, if you want, but your name should be the only one to go on it.”

“Are you kidding? I could _never_ have done this without you!”

“Really?”

“Of course!”

Perry smiled. “Well, OK, as long as my name goes second.”

Luz frowned. “There’s just one thing. We may have protected the protests, but what about the thing they’re protesting? Those people still lost their homes because of Blight Concert Hall.”

Perry sighed. “That’s true. But hey, let’s look at the bright side. At least we accomplished _something_.”

“Yeah.”

* * *

Perry went back to the office where he was approached by Mr. Grick.

“Perry, I heard about the notes you gave to Kasparov this morning."

Uh oh. With everything else going on, Perry hadn't considered what the illusion Gus had made of him might be telling Kasparov.

"Fascinating stuff!" Mr. Grick went on. "I never knew you used to be a pirate.”

“Oh… uh… I like to keep that part of my life a secret.”

Perry got to his desk and left a message asking the Blights for a comment on the story. Then, a few hours later, he was surprised to find Alador Blight at the station in person, and not looking too happy. He marched over to Perry's desk.

“Mr. Porter,” he snarled. “With the opening of Blight Concert Hall, I’m very busy today, so you can imagine what an inconvenience it is for me to come over to this place to address your ridiculous accusations. If your station airs a word of it, I’ll get you fired.”

Perry was used to threats to get him fired, but the Blights might actually have the power to get it done. It was a good thing he was trying to get the story printed by DaggerQuill instead of aired on his network.

“So, I’ll take that as a denial?” Perry asked.

“Yes, and it would simply be the word of that ridiculous musician against mine. However, we’d rather not have such accusations, as ludicrous as they are, out there in the public right now. So, if you stop the story from airing on this network, then I’ll debase myself by granting you an interview tomorrow.”

Perry had to stop himself from smirking. “OK, I’ll make sure the story won't air on this network. And what would the interview be about?”

“To quell these silly protests, we’re donating some money to help the people displaced by our concert hall find some new housing. I expect the interview to be quite glowing given our generosity.”

Perry smiled. Luz would be so happy to hear about this!

“OK, we have a deal!”

* * *

After work, Perry headed back to the Owl House when he was approached by Hooty.

“Go ahead,” Perry said.

“Go ahead with what?”

“You mean… you’re not going to wrap me up?”

“Why would I do that to someone who’s been here so many times?”

Perry grumbled as he went inside, where he found Luz waving around some pieces of paper.

“Mr. Porter," she said. "I wrote up the story!”

“Really? Already?”

Perry gave it a read, and for someone with no experience, it was pretty good!

“You did a great job, Ace! And guess what, the protests have pressured the Blights into helping the people who lost their homes find new ones!”

“Really? Wow!”

After Perry made some edits, Luz called out to Eda so they could ask her to send it to DaggerQuill, but there was no answer.

“That’s strange,” Luz said.

She brought Perry to Eda’s bedroom, or nestroom, to knock, but just as she got there, the door opened, and Luz was surprised to see Eda and Lilith come out of it together.

“Mr. Porter?” Lilith said.

“Eda, we wrote the story!” Luz said. “Will you send it to DaggerQuill?”

“Nice job, kiddo,” Eda said. “I’ll send it over right away. Although I hope DaggerQuill agrees to meet you because I'm getting a little tired of being the go-between.”

Perry thanked Eda and got ready to leave, but as he got to the door, Lilith approached him.

“Mr. Porter,” she said. “I’m so glad you’re here. I wanted to thank you. The concert tonight was just wonderful! And I made sure there were no problems for the protestors.”

“I’m glad.”

Then, Lilith looked askance. “I suppose I couldn’t even live like my sister for a few days without needing some respite.”

“Hey, everyone needs a little something nice in their lives every once in a while. I bet even your sister.”

Lilith smiled. “Anyway, I wanted to repay you somehow. What Edalyn and I were doing just now was a way to jog my memory about that member of the Emperor’s Coven I told you about.”

“The one who was unhappy with things?”

“Yes. Edalyn has a spell that allows her to enter people’s minds. She was able to find my memory of the conversation I had with her and get her name: Sonata Cassette.”

“Wow, I can’t thank you enough!”

Perry left the Owl House excited. Everything was going his way!


	15. Perry Meets DaggerQuill

The next morning, Perry headed back to the Owl House to meet Eda.

“I heard back from DaggerQuill,” she said. “He loved the story.”

“Really?!”

“Yep! He wants to print it.” She handed Perry a piece of paper. “There’s the time and location of the meeting along with the phrases you'll exchange to prove yourselves to each other. Memorize it and give it back to me.”

“I can’t thank you enough. If you hadn’t told me about DaggerQuill, I don’t know what I would’ve done.”

“Hey, don’t mention it.”

“Wait a minute… _you’re_ not DaggerQuill, are you?”

Eda burst out laughing. “You think I want to spend all day editing and putting out a newspaper?”

As Perry walked out, Lilith came to the door.

“Mr. Porter,” she called out. “I just thought I’d say hello before you left.”

“Oh, hello,” he answered. “Thanks again. You really went above and beyond to find me the name of that potential source.”

“I was happy to do it,” she said. There was a moment of silence. “Well… I guess that’s all.”

As she was about to turn away, Perry thought of how lonely Lilith must be now that her life had changed so much.

“You know,” he said. “I have to get going now, but if I ever had reason came back to the Owl House, maybe we could talk for bit.”

Lilith smirked. “Off the record?”

Perry chuckled. “If you prefer.”

Lilith smiled. “All right. That sounds nice.”

* * *

At the appointed time, Perry got to the meeting location, a spot in the woods, and after a few minutes he was approached by a figure wearing a cloak with his face obscured.

“The pixies sure were loud today,” the figure said, the first phrase in the exchange of bona fides. That voice sounded so familiar.

"Yes," Perry answered. "But they always quiet down at night."

The figure nodded. “I read your story. Great work. I was skeptical when the Owl Lady told me about you, but you’ve really proven yourself.”

“Thanks. Do we know each other?”

“No. Impossible.”

“Wait a minute… I _do_ know you! You’re my son Augustus’s journalism teacher.”

“Uh… no, I’m not.”

“Hey, you gave my son a B on his interview project!”

“He’s lucky he got that much. He was supposed to interview someone interesting, accomplished, and noteworthy.”

“But he ended up interviewing _me_.”

“My point exactly.”

Perry grumbled but decided to let it go. “So, you’ll print the story?”

“Yes.”

“Great! Soon, all of the Boiling Isles will know what the Blights tried to do!”

“Well, not _all_ of the Boiling Isles.”

“Yeah, but a whole lot of people.”

“Well, ‘a whole lot’ is… relative.”

“Exactly how many people does your paper go out to?”

“I only send it out to people I can trust.”

“And how many is that?”

“Counting you? 33.”

“33?!”

“Hey, that’s how I’ve survived all this time.”

Perry looked down and shook his head. “Listen, maybe I have no right to come in as a new guy and tell you what to do. But what good is a paper that practically no one reads, no matter how good the reporting is?”

“Better than a paper that’s been shut down by the Emperor’s Coven.”

Perry sighed. “I thought this was my chance to do some real reporting. But what you just said sounded just like my station manager. He’s too afraid to do any good reporting, and you’re too afraid to get all your good reporting seen by anyone. At the end of the day, what’s the difference?”

DaggerQuill didn’t say anything for a few moments. “ _If_ I wanted to take a risk and get the paper out there… how would you suggest I do it?”

Perry grinned. “Print out a bunch of issues and leave them on every doorstep you can. And leave a form for people to subscribe.” Perry thought about how Gus and Willow had riled up the crowd the night of the petrification. “I bet there are a lot more people out there who would than you think.”

“Well… I’ll think about it. In the meantime, we’re going to need to set up a secret way to communicate. I have just the thing.”


	16. The Paper Comes Out

The next morning at Blight Manor, Ed, Em and Amity came down for breakfast to see their parents waving around a newspaper and shouting angrily.

“Can you believe this?” Alador shrieked.

“An outrage!” Odalia yelled. “Who wrote it?”

“It’s anonymous. It just says, ‘Ace and The Reporter’. Cowards!”

“Wait a minute, you don’t think it could be that fellow from Bonesborough News Network, do you?”

Alador considered. “No. I dealt with him yesterday. He wouldn’t have the guts.”

“Then who?”

The Blight siblings looked at each other and exchanged knowing smiles.

Alador grabbed the paper and threw it violently into the wastebasket.

“Oh, who cares?” he said bitterly. “Let’s just go!”

As soon as the two left, with Alador angrily slamming the door shut behind him, Ed and Em ran to the wastebasket and eagerly snatched up the paper. The three of them read the story together.

“Wow!” Ed said.

“So, this is what Luz has been up to,” Em said.

“Yeah,” Amity said, looking at the article in awe.

* * *

While the Blights were eating breakfast, Perry was setting up the secret mailbox that DaggerQuill had given him the night before on the windowsill outside his office. Then, he opened the front door to find DaggerQuill’s paper on his doorstep. But what really impressed him was that he saw the papers on his neighbors' doorsteps too. Going to the station, he found that everyone was talking about it.

“Perry,” Mr. Grick said, holding a copy of the paper. “Have you seen this paper?"

"Yeah, it showed up on my doorstep."

"It's all anyone's talking about! We've got to do some reporting like what's in here. You think you can break a story like some of these?"

Perry smirked. "I don't know, but I'll give it a try."

"Hey, did you see the story about Blight Concert Hall?”

“Yeah.”

“You’ve got to ask Alador Blight about it in your interview today.”

“You’re not worried about upsetting him?”

“Now that the story’s everywhere, we don’t have a choice.”

When Alador Blight came in for the interview, he looked like he was barely containing his fury. He gave terse answers and seemed livid throughout even though Perry was asking him questions about his donation, which ought to have painted him in a good light.

“Before we go,” Perry said. “I do need to ask, have you seen the story about you in that mysterious paper that appeared on so many doorsteps this morning?”

Alador glared at him and muttered, “No comment,” as Perry suppressed a chuckle.


	17. Sonata Cassette

Perry left work in good spirits. Now was the perfect time to show his little boy the newspaper and tell him all about what he’d been doing the past few days. Augustus was going to be so proud of his dad!

But first he was going to get a start on his next story and visit that member of the Emperor’s Coven Lilith had told him about, Sonata Cassette.

With her name, finding her address had been easy enough. He knocked on the door to a small home on a crowded cobblestone street just outside Bonesborough. It was answered by a small, young woman with powder blue hair.

“Hello?” she said in a high-pitched, delicate voice.

“Hi, are you Sonata Cassette?”

“Yes.”

“And are you a member of the Emperor’s Coven?”

“Yes.”

“I’m a reporter for the Bonesborough News Network. I was wondering whether I might be able to get an interview. Show people what life in the Emperor’s Coven is really like.”

She sighed. “I’ll tell you what life in the coven is really like. All we do is hurt people and do terrible things every single day.”

Wow, Perry thought he’d have to spend a while establishing trust, but she was just coming right out with it. “Can you tell me some more?”

“Yeah, but nothing I told you would ever get aired on the Bonesborough News Network. Did you get one of these newspapers?” She pulled out a copy of DaggerQuill’s paper.

“Yeah, seems like a lot of people got a copy this morning.”

“If only I could get an interview from a reporter at a paper like this.”

Something about this situation felt a little too good to be true.

“Well, I wouldn’t know anything about that,” Perry said. “Anyway, I’ll leave you the number where you can contact me at the station.”

Perry rushed back home, looking over his shoulder the whole way. But when he got there, he found that Sonata Cassette was already waiting for him in the living room with a wicked-looking smile.

* * *

“Mr. Porter,” Sonata said. Though she still had that same delicate voice, it suddenly sounded a lot more threatening.

Perry gasped. “What are you doing in my home?!”

“First things first: where did you hear about me?”

“I… I don’t know. Someone sent me an anonymous letter.”

“Hmm… well, we’ll come back to that later. My job is to go around pretending to have a problem with what the Emperor’s Coven is doing to weed out potential traitors and miscreants within our ranks. I never expected to be approached by a journalist. But I already knew all about you.”

“You did?”

“Yes. I watch your broadcasts. Much better than _my_ local station.”

Even in the current situation, Perry found that a little flattering.

“I saw the interview you did with Alador Blight today,” Sonata continued. “And it made me wonder, what would get one of the notoriously private Blights to agree to an interview? And then I saw that there was story about him in that awful newspaper that showed up on everyone’s doorstep this morning. That got me wondering about you, but what clinched it was when you showed up at my doorstep asking for an interview. You wrote the story about Blight, didn’t you? And you came to me thinking I’d tell you bad things about the Emperor’s Coven that you could print in that paper.”

“What? No, of course not!”

“You did. Somehow you got it into your head that reporting the reliable information the Emperor’s Coven gives you isn’t good enough, and you felt the need to cause trouble. And that means you know this DaggerQuill character. Who is it?”

“I don’t know! All our communication was anonymous.”

“Oh? Let’s see if you say the same now.”

She snapped her fingers, and another member of the Emperor’s Coven came down the stairs carrying a bound and gagged Gus.


	18. Gus Finds Out What His Dad's Been Up To

“No!” Perry cried out. “Augustus!”

Sonata smirked. “Still going to stick to the same story?”

Perry’s heart was racing, and he was breaking out into a cold sweat. He was even feeling a little faint. Why had he ever tried to do this? And why did he have to convince DaggerQuill to circulate the paper so far and wide instead of sticking to what was safe? No matter what, he had to get his son out of danger. But could he really betray DaggerQuill?

“Well?” Sonata said.

“Please, I’ll do anything! Just let my son go!”

“I will as soon as you cooperate.”

“OK, the truth is… the truth is… _I’m_ DaggerQuill.”

Sonata burst out laughing. “Come on, let’s get serious. Try to stall like that again and I won’t be so amused.”

“But I told you, I never found out DaggerQuill’s identity!”

“I’m losing my patience!”

Perry had no idea what to do. But right at that moment, he saw Kasparov silently float through a wall behind Sonata. They gave Perry a wink and floated upstairs. Soon, Perry heard the sound of loud typing.

Sonata rolled her eyes. “I’ll go check on that,” she said to her companion.

As soon as she’d gone upstairs, Gus and the person holding him disappeared.

“Huh?” Perry looked around, baffled.

Then, Gus popped out of a cupboard.

“Dad,” he whispered. “I’m OK!”

“Augustus? I don’t understand.”

Augustus drew a circle and an unconscious member of the Emperor’s Coven appeared lying on the floor by the wall.

“This doofus broke into the house," Gus said. "But I tricked them by making that wall invisible. They walked right into it and got knocked unconscious! Then I saw the other one coming, so I made the illusion of the first one holding myself all tied up and then hid in the cupboard.”

Perry grabbed his son in a hug. “I’m so glad you’re OK!”

“Hey, was all that stuff she said true? About you writing for a secret newspaper?”

“Yes. I’m so sorry, Augustus. It’s just… the night of the petrification, you were so disappointed in me. I wanted to make you proud.”

“You mean, you did all this because of me?”

Perry nodded sadly.

“Dad… it’s true. I _was_ disappointed that night. But I’ll always love you no matter what reporting you do.”

Perry smiled. “Thanks, Augustus. I never meant to put you in danger like this.”

“But Dad, I’m not in any danger.”

“Yeah,” Perry said. “I… I guess not.”

Perry had been so afraid for his son just now, not to mention the night of the petrification, but maybe his little boy had grown up enough to take care of himself a little more than he’d realized. And now that he’d seen more of what Luz and Willow were capable of, Perry thought that maybe with friends like them on his side, Gus would be OK.

“I know I said I love you no matter what reporting you do," Gus said. "But I’m still really glad you did this. It means you’re the reporter I always thought you were!”

Perry smiled. “I'll be glad I did this too... if we can get out of this mess.”

Gus went back in the cupboard and set the illusions up again. Before long, Sonata came back down the stairs.

“That silly ghost is such a chatterbox,” Sonata said to her companion. “Why didn’t you find them?”

The illusion shrugged its shoulders.

“By the way,” Sonata said, turning to Perry. “You really thought I wouldn’t find the secret mailbox?”

“Secret mailbox?”

“Don’t play dumb. That’s how you’ve been communicating with DaggerQuill. I found _this_ in it.” She handed him a piece of paper.

“Mr. Porter,” Perry read. “I’m not sure whether you’ll ever see this letter. I had one of my people keeping an eye on your house, and we saw someone from the Emperor’s Coven come in. Clearly, this was a mistake. It’s a good thing I never revealed my identity to you. You’ll never hear from me again. DaggerQuill.”

“I suppose you were telling the truth,” she said. “Meaning the only troublemaker whom I’ve caught today is you.” Sonata made a fist with her hand and raised it over his head.

Perry flinched, but to his surprise, she unclenched her fist and simply patted him on the head.

“You’re one of the best at getting the Emperor’s message out there. And now that you’ve been cut off from this DaggerQuill fellow, I hope this little rebellious phase of yours is over.”

“Definitely!” Perry said. “I’ll never cause any trouble again!”

“See that you don’t.” She looked over at the illusion she thought was her companion. “I’m leaving. Go ahead and untie that boy and then you can leave too.”

With that, Sonata left.

After seeing that she was far away, Gus made the illusions disappear and constructed a new illusion of Sonata holding a tied-up version of himself as he and his father waited for the other member of the Emperor’s Coven to wake up.

“Huh?” she said. “What happened?”

“You fool!” the illusory Sonata said. “You ran into the wall and got knocked out. But I won’t tell the rest of the coven. We’ll just say you tied up the boy like you were supposed to.”

“Really? Thanks!”

“Just head out. I’m going to ask these people some more questions, but it looks like they don’t know anything. Just don’t mention this to anyone from now on. Don't even talk to _me_ about it.”

"Whatever you say."

Once they were all clear, Perry and Gus laughed.

“Nice job, Augustus!”

Then, Kasparov floated over.

“And thank you, Kasparov!” Perry said.

“Any time! After all those amazing stories you told me yesterday, I was happy to help you out.”

“Uh… yeah, we’ll have to talk about some of those stories. Anyway, I think I’d like to spend the rest of the evening with my son.”

“OK, Mr. Porter. I’ll be here bright and early tomorrow morning!”

Perry waved goodbye as Kasparov floated out and thought, _I’m still going to get the house ghost-proofed._

“It’s too bad you won’t be able write for that secret newspaper anymore,” Gus said.

Perry gave him a sly smile. “It doesn’t always take magic to make illusions. That mailbox was a fake! It’s meant to look hidden but be easy for people like Sonata Cassette to discover in situations like this. And that fake letter's in there to throw them off the trail. DaggerQuill and I really communicate with this.” Perry pulled out a mirror like the one he’d given Luz. “I’m going to have to be extra careful reporting for DaggerQuill from now on, but we’ll figure it out.”

“Wow! You’re amazing, Dad!”

Perry smiled. “Thanks, but the fake mailbox was DaggerQuill’s idea. And I can’t take all the credit for the reporting either.”

Perry took out the mirror and called up Luz.

“Mr. Porter?” she said.

“Hi, Ace. Sorry to call you when it’s not for a story.”

“Huh?” Gus said.

“Hi, Gus,” Luz said.

“Luz has been helping me this whole time,” Perry said. “In fact, she’s the one who really broke the story that got printed this morning.”

“Wow, really?”

Luz giggled. “Yeah, it’s true. I was waiting for it to get printed and your dad to show you before I told you. Hey, Gus, call me back on the crystal ball, OK? This mirror’s only for official reporter business.”

“So, Dad,” Gus asked once they’d hung up. “What’s the next story going to be?”

Perry chuckled. “I’ll think about that tomorrow. For now, I think we’ve earned a little time to relax.” Perry pulled out a DVD case from his coat pocket. “I borrowed this from Luz. I thought we could watch it together.”

“Azura Gets the Scoop? Yeah! Let’s watch it!”

And Perry and Gus hugged each other again.


	19. Epilogue: Perry and Gus Watch a Movie

“Oh, come on!” Perry said fifteen minutes into Azura Gets the Scoop. “A reporter can’t do that!”

“Dad! You said you’d stop pointing out all the inaccuracies.”

“Sorry, sorry. That was the last time. Hey, wait a minute! No decent reporter would­–”

“Dad!”

“Sorry! OK, _that_ was the last time.”

But just a few minutes later, Perry scoffed and said, “They expect us to believe anything, don't they? Huh? Augustus, where are you going? Hey, come back! OK, _that_ was the last time. I swear!”


End file.
